Advantage of the operation "Whiskey in the Jar" is that KB is fully committed to the Noumea area (i.e. it cannot go somewhere else to counter other offensives or support Japanese invasions). If it leaves the Japs at Noumea are in trouble

In a carrier battle the Japanese miniKB(?) launched from far and hit the US carriers with light bombs. The US Navy could due to range not strike back. All three remaining CVs can do 20+ knots but with their flightdecks damaged may not be capable to defend from another attack by miniKB. One of the CV F4F-4 squadrons has been diverted to Johnston island and from their will provide long range cap over the US carreirs.

A lot of system damage and very little major damage. Speed of the CVs has still been great and they managed to stay out of the reach of the Japanese bombers. Apparently, there are some CVEs in the taskforce, or they headed for a wrong direction, perhaps not realizing that the US carriers could still do 20 knots. Anyways, the CVs will be within fighter cap of Pearl Harbor by tomorrow. Hopefully repairs won't take to long. In the summer the first Essex CVs arrive. Together with the Saratoga, Hornet and Enterprise I will have a mighty carrier fleet that finally can match KB. As long as submarines don't sink them prior to the battle...

It will be difficult for the USAFFE to hold out till even the New Year. But the Japanese troops also lost all their fighting power and cannot immediately be put into another battle shortly. Wainwright and his men have done a great job...

1942 is over and we are entering 1943. A good opportunity to highlight the current advances of the Japanese troops. In yellow are given the current front. In red are the maximum advances that the Japanese troops made and where they have been pushed back again. Also note that at Bataan peninsula (USAFFE) and at La Foa (US I Corps) several US Army troops are still stuck behind enemy lines.

After lurking in the shadows I thought I would make a brief contribution to Dennishe’s fantastic AAR as his direct opponent. Those who follow this AAR would have a good understanding of the ferocity and intensity of the combat over the last 12 months of game play. With the game about to take a new and exciting direction (most likely fatal for the Japanese) I thought it timely to make a small contribution. Finally my thanks to my wonderful and skilled opponent Dennishe who is a true gentleman in every sense of the word.

Introduction Ussuri River: 0630 hrs 27th January 1943 (Part 1) Major Yamaguchi OC 36th Rifle Company, 9th Infantry Division rubbed his bleary eyes in the bitter cold and scanned his surroundings. The euphoria of the last 3 days was now beginning to wear off as the infantry struggled in the deep snow after they crossed the LD. Somewhere out there in the murky mists of freezing Manchuria and on the Mongolian border approximately 500,000 Japanese, elements of 20 Infantry Divisions and supporting arms struggled through the winter to commence the offensive to end the Soviet Empire. After months of preparation Ko Ame (Winter Rain) had finally been launched but already the timetable was slipping. He heard from a colleague at Divisional Headquarters that the armour was already floundering across the Ussuri River, with the ice not of sufficient strength to support their weight. An impressive mess but not unexpected when you launch an offensive in Winter in Manchuria he pondered. Still the numbers involved were impressive. Aside from the largely untouched Kwantung Army there were veteran divisions from the 25th and 17th Armies who had largely only known victories since the start of hostilities. The addition of the Imperial Guards division after its successful conquest of Bataan was also warmly welcomed. Still trying to coordinate hundreds of thousands of men through this terrain was near to impossible task. I hope Ivan is asleep because otherwise this could be the shortest offensive in the history of warfare.

Clearly Ivan is not asleep or I wouldn't be writing this but let's see what happens over the next month.

Tokyo: 1000 hrs 27th January 1943 (Part 2) Tojo studied the map one last time. So after months of stockpiling supplies and planning they have departed the line of departure and it will only be a matter of days before they are in contact with Soviet outposts. A horrific gamble but what part of the war up to now hadn’t been. The failed invasion of India and link up with the Germans in the Middle East still pained him. So close but the introduction of those Australian divisions proved to be the final straw. Sugiyama the fool should have known their location before that final offensive.

Nevertheless the war up to this point had not been going too badly. The Chinese had been crushed and the British and Indians had taken a terrible beating. Even the Americans were presently weak thanks to a couple of lucky placed torpedoes by his IJN colleagues, not that he would publically admit to that. The current American offensive in the Marshalls was a concern but the recent carrier victory in December (the loss of another 3 US carriers though he doubted that) still indicated they were not a significant threat to Japan. The poorly planned amphibious operations at Tarawa and Wake which shattered 2 IJA Divisions were a clear indication that this was not a strong point of the Japan. No more amphib operations ever after that debacle.

And then in September word had come from the Germans of a highly placed Ukrainian defector detailing Stalin’s planned ambitions for Manchuria. He was incoherent with rage that Japan had been duped into a pact of non aggression with a man of no honour. He understood at that moment that the fate of Japan was now linked to that of Germany’s and after that there really was no choice. No more foolish adventures in the Pacific, India or Burma now was the time to settle old scores with the traditional enemy though the recent news out of Stalingrad was not good.

I have seen troops moving to Port Arthur for weeks now in the intelligence report. Since it wat simultaneously with a Japanese offensive in Southern China I expected a large scale attack in northern China, focussed at Chungking. Russia will be very very interesting. First an update on the air battles over New Guinea. Very bloody as always...

Apparently the IJN expects an Allied invasion in the Marshall Islands. I can't blame them for that . I don't think the carriers will attack. The successful strike on the Japanese transports have illustrated that the Avengers carry armed torpedoes. Although I would love to see one of those flattops getting too close...

The Soviet - Japanese war is a very bloody one. Not so much at sea. And also on land the Japanese for now are still pinned down at the border fortresses. But in the Air both sides, but especially the Soviets, are containing heavy losses.